The Force Awakens - The Starlight Project

This is a theoretical fanedit of The Force Awakens, which will use as a base Hal 9000’s TFA Restructured.

This edit began with the goal of merely embellishing character arcs and fixing continuity and logic problems with The Force Awakens, but it has since grown into a much more ambitious project which seeks illuminate an intriguing thesis which has hitherto been buried deep in the film’s sub-textual clues.

As for a cutlist for the film, here are some proposed changes (Restructured edits in italics, new changes in bold):

Replace the original crawl with one which more eloquently establishes the universe and action.

Insert new scene at night where Rey imagines the island.

Remove Finn’s wanton destruction of his fellow Stormtroopers as he escapes the hangar.

Move scene of Rey refusing to sell BB-8 to after Finn arrives at Niima outpost.

Alter Finn’s cavalier attitude about shooting the TIE fighters, resorting to firing only as a last resort.

Insert shot of the Falcon going to lightspeed directly after it escapes from Jakku, then another shot of it falling out of Hyperspace after the explosion in the Falcon hold. Cut Finn’s line ‘We need to get out of this system!’

Cut the exchange where BB-8 traitorously divulges the location of the Resistance Base.

Remove Finn being captured by a Rathtar.

Edit out Finn’s accidental activation of the Falcon’s game table.

Move the first Snoke scene to just after the map scene, and cut dialogue from Han implying their arrival at Takodana is imminent. The Snoke scene consists of only Hux, since Kylo should still be hunting for the droid, and Snoke instructs Hux to begin preparations.

Remove Han asking for Rey’s name, since he should already know it from their time on the Falcon. Cut his lines indicating that they are at the castle to get a ‘clean’ ship. Instead, they need Maz’s connection to Leia to get them to the Resistance.

Re-score the in-universe music in Maz’s castle to something more in keeping with the Byzantine decoration. Perhaps use the second, almost muted cue from later on in Maz’s castle.

Remove the Resistance Droid informant, and change subtitles of the First Order informant to make it unclear which party she is contacting.

Include alien dialogue from the deleted scenes with new subtitles making it clear that Maz’s Castle is the safest place for Finn right now.

Move Kylo’s prayer to either just after Finn leaves with the pirates (to indicate a connection between him and the lightsaber’s strange behavior) or before Finn sees the ship arrive overhead.

Insert reversed shot of Maz handing Leia the lightsaber to the Force vision, indicating that Leia trusts Maz as much as Han does. Also, insert previously deleted footage of Rey alone in the Rathtar infested hallways to the Force vision to emphasize the dramatic effect of Finn’s sudden absence. Finally, insert a shot of the entire galaxy and the path to Luke which is seared into Rey’s mind.

Insert shots of Star Destroyer to Maz’s Castle instead of Hosnian destruction, along with SirRidley’s new music.

Insert matte painting of the front of the pirate ship Meson Martinet in the shot where Rey says ‘I’m leaving’, indicating that she intends to leave with Finn. Alternately, create a new shot of the front of the ship from Rey’s point of view.

Regrade Maz’s Castle after Rey runs away to look as if it is occurring in late afternoon

Restructure the end of the Maz Castle battle so that Finn begins to run to Rey before it is obvious that he is too late.

Hold Poe’s reveal at Maz’s castle for directly after Finn says ‘That’s one hell of a pilot!’, to which Poe whoops in delight.

Remove Poe’s mention of Hosnian System destruction, while leaving in the fact that Finn worked on the First Order base.

Insert shots of R2 beginning to search his backup files for the map on BB8’s suggestion.

Remove Leia’s lines which refer to Snoke by name. Cut the scene so that she ends with ‘that’s when I lost you both’, and the officer arrives saying ‘General…’ without mention of the reconnaissance. This helps make it seem like events in the movie are spaced farther apart.

Add a dream sequence before Rey wakes up in the interrogation room, consisting of her exploring Luke’s island and maybe even seeing his face, proffering him the lightsaber.

Extend Rey’s interrogation with Kylo directly accessing parts of her mind. He sees Finn playing at the game table on the Falcon (taken from that cut moment of confusion), and the closeup of Han from the map scene. As she gains power, she first bombards Kylo with images of Han, then accesses his mind and learns of his worship of Vader and his insecurity.

Kylo’s conversation with Snoke is bereft of Hux’s intrusion. Snoke does not learn the location of the Resistance Base in this film.

Split Rey’s escape attempt into two parts, with her failing to trick the guard at first.

Leia’s ‘…again. Our system is the next target’ is replaced with Snap asking if Leia has had word from the Republic, to which she answers ‘No’. 3PO’s line changes to ‘Oh my! This is a catastrophe!’.

Place the shot of the Falcon in Hyperspace after Finn is informed that the approach will be made at lightspeed. This allows some tension to build whereas before it was over too quickly.

Re-edit the Starkiller infiltration by Finn, Han, and Chewie to show that Rey is still in the detention level as they deliberate on how to proceed. Cut to Rey escaping after 'Hell no.'

Remove 3PO’s line ‘It would take a miracle to save us now!’.

Starkiller firing begins to occur directly after Han falls from the bridge.

Remove Chewie running for cover before detonating the explosives, implying that he is willing to sacrifice himself to prevent the weapon from firing.

Re-edit the Hosnian destruction so that the Raddus escapes before the planet is destroyed, and split Leia’s reaction to imply that she senses Han’s death before she is overwhelmed by the Hosnian destruction.

Between the two parts of the lightsaber fight, remove the cutaway to Hux and shorten the destruction of the Oscillator where it blows up before Poe escapes, making for a more intense sequence.

Remove fighter pilot reaction shots from the Starkiller destruction and re-foley the scene.

Crop Chewie out of the shot with Leia after the battle.

Extend shot of R2 finishing his search of the backup data and finding the map.

If it didn’t have a timecode I’d probably use it. But I understand why it was cut - it really only exists to have Kylo become aware of/ruminate about Han’s presence, and it takes precious screentime to do it. DigMod just cropped the video, but it’s pretty obvious in some shots.

Cool beans. Been trying to teach myself a lot more in AE recently and that looks like just the kind of thing I should try next.

As for the scene itself, I’d have to see it in context to know for sure, pacing wise, if it works, but I like the idea of it. I think it’s important to keep up Kylo’s temptation to the light in conjunction with the reunion with his father. I feel like this is a good place for a reminder and for things to ramp up. Honestly, if I were to implement the scene, I’d change the music when he’s in the cockpit to his more tragic theme (reference) and have him say “father” rather than “Han Solo” again.

For similar reasons (that I’ve touched on elsewhere before) I think the Vader scene should be moved, as it’s placement in the theatrical is kind of a non sequitur.

For similar reasons (that I’ve touched on elsewhere before) I think the Vader scene should be moved, as it’s placement in the theatrical is kind of a non sequitur.

That’s an interesting idea. I was just imagining how it would play back to back with Rey’s Dream (they both feature a helmet from a deceased warrior), but of course it wouldn’t work there. Were you thinking it should be closer to the final confrontation in order to bring his conflict to the fore?

As much as I don’t want to do a shot-by-shot color correction of TFA, there are certain scenes that do warrant color work. For example, many of the closeups of C-3PO look terrible to me, while the wide shots look much better. I thought it was just how the different suit reflected light, and though it is partly that, it’s also that he’s been graded to be too flat and green in comparison with how he looks in the wide shots and the rest of the saga.http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/207316

For similar reasons (that I’ve touched on elsewhere before) I think the Vader scene should be moved, as it’s placement in the theatrical is kind of a non sequitur.

That’s an interesting idea. I was just imagining how it would play back to back with Rey’s Dream (they both feature a helmet from a deceased warrior), but of course it wouldn’t work there. Were you thinking it should be closer to the final confrontation in order to bring his conflict to the fore?

Well in my mind hopefully the Falcon scene would do that. You can’t move the Vader scene too far back or it just slows things down too much.

The main issue is just that it’s placement as is doesn’t connect to what comes before or after (in this case Maz’s bar), so it’s a bit hard emotionally to feel the connection in Kylo’s psychology with the rest of his story (hope I’m explaining this right, logically it’s easy to make sense of the connection but in terms of the actual effect it’s lacking the way it’s sequenced).

I basically see three different possibilities -

Right after Snoke’s “we shall see”, so we follow up Snoke’s skepticism with Kylo’s own, which enforces it

Immediately before “the end of the Republic” - this probably doesn’t work Starkiller restructruring, but I love the shots of Kylo looking at the super laser and I think it’d add a layer if we know he’s just asked Vader to show him the power of the darkness and he has this in his mind while he’s watching (note: this is essentially what the film is trying to do but by putting all the Maz stuff in between the effect is gone almost completely)

After Leia’s “you’re his father” - this is the latest I think the scene could go (and it’d probably require a bit of restructuring to get just right), but the idea here would be that we’re connecting more closely Kylo’s call to the light with Han and Leia trying to get him back

I haven’t seen how any of them look in practice so I can’t say which works the best, but they all seem like they could be good alternatives to the way it’s placed in the actual film.

I feel like, based on what you said, that the Kylo scene should go as late as possible in order to keep it fresh in the audience’s mind. I like the idea of putting it right before the interrogation scene, so that Rey can call him out on his Vader worship right after his visit to the ‘shrine’. Then, after she throws him for a loop, she escapes and further infuriates him.

Nice initiative! 😃 I like most of your ideas, and as you know I’d like to use some of them for my edit which is also based on Restructured. I’ll make my own thread eventually.

I have a few questions and thoughts.

"Insert shot of the Falcon going to lightspeed …"
Is there usable footage for this?

"… trim Bala-Tik’s dialogue about the First Order looking for a droid …"
I feel like this is easier said than done. Bala-Tik mentions the FO looking for a droid and two fugitives, which leads to them wanting to search the ship, and then finally saying “kill them, and take the droid”. All of this is connected, so I think you’d have to remove all of this dialogue and cut from “Nowhere left to hide” to the Rathtars attacking, and move Rey opening the Rathtar cage to a slightly earlier point. Not sure this would flow well, and the increasing tension between the gangs and Han would be lost.

"Regrade Maz’s Castle after Rey runs away to look as if it is occurring in late afternoon"
It’s possible, and it makes the sunset shot make slightly more sense. But you’d have to regrade about 10 minutes of footage (until they leave Takodana). Might be worth it though, if it looks good.

“Reincorporate Kylo’s investigation of the Falcon” - Using xxtelecine 7xx’s clip I’ve done some further cropping and editing to make the timecode removal more seamless. Looks good, I could upload a clip later.

And I made a version of the island dream shot, I’ll upload that as well.

Yeah I feel like that’s the one I’m sort of leaning towards but it’s hard to know how well it’d work without actually seeing it.

I went ahead and made a rough version where his counsel with Vader is in between Han & Leia’s talk and Rey’s interrogation. Didn’t put the entirety of those two scenes in the video, just enough to get the gist. I also went ahead and put the two Maz scenes back together where the Kylo scene originally was just to see if the transition would work without it in between them. Like I said, it’s rough, but maybe it’ll help you guys decide if this direction is worth pursuing.

Nice initiative! 😃 I like most of your ideas, and as you know I’d like to use some of them for my edit which is also based on Restructured. I’ll make my own thread eventually.

I have a few questions and thoughts.

"Insert shot of the Falcon going to lightspeed …"
Is there usable footage for this?

It may be possible by using the end of the shot at the end of the film where the Falcon jumps out of the Resistance system, and then there are two possible shots of it falling out of lightspeed, both requiring the removal of a planet.

"… trim Bala-Tik’s dialogue about the First Order looking for a droid …"
I feel like this is easier said than done. Bala-Tik mentions the FO looking for a droid and two fugitives, which leads to them wanting to search the ship, and then finally saying “kill them, and take the droid”. All of this is connected, so I think you’d have to remove all of this dialogue and cut from “Nowhere left to hide” to the Rathtars attacking, and move Rey opening the Rathtar cage to a slightly earlier point. Not sure this would flow well, and the increasing tension between the gangs and Han would be lost.

This is the one scene where I’m fine with a lot of cuts, since the Rathtars are one of the weakest parts of the film IMO. After ‘Nowhere left to hide’, Rey could open the cages, then cut ‘and take the droid!’. Then keep the initial Rathtar attack, but cut Finn’s improbable capture and rescue. Maybe cut Han’s blasting the door open with the Bowcaster, since it doesn’t make any sense and it closes later in the scene.

"Regrade Maz’s Castle after Rey runs away to look as if it is occurring in late afternoon"
It’s possible, and it makes the sunset shot make slightly more sense. But you’d have to regrade about 10 minutes of footage (until they leave Takodana). Might be worth it though, if it looks good.

I think a few scene-specific regrades would do wonders for the OT look of the film, especially the Falcon scenes and the droids.

“Reincorporate Kylo’s investigation of the Falcon” - Using xxtelecine 7xx’s clip I’ve done some further cropping and editing to make the timecode removal more seamless. Looks good, I could upload a clip later.

And I made a version of the island dream shot, I’ll upload that as well.

Yeah I feel like that’s the one I’m sort of leaning towards but it’s hard to know how well it’d work without actually seeing it.

I went ahead and made a rough version where his counsel with Vader is in between Han & Leia’s talk and Rey’s interrogation. Didn’t put the entirety of those two scenes in the video, just enough to get the gist. I also went ahead and put the two Maz scenes back together where the Kylo scene originally was just to see if the transition would work without it in between them. Like I said, it’s rough, but maybe it’ll help you guys decide if this direction is worth pursuing.

I don’t think we need the establishing shot of the Finalizer for this cut, since we can assume that Kylo’s prayer happens on Starkiller Base. The TIE mountain shot could preface both scenes, linking them more closely together.

It may be possible by using the end of the shot at the end of the film where the Falcon jumps out of the Resistance system, and then there are two possible shots of it falling out of lightspeed, both requiring the removal of a planet.

Okay, that should be possible. I don’t really see the need for the addition though. Would it really make sense to put the ship into lightspeed at that time? They just escaped, and Rey leaves the cockpit to meet up with Finn (I don’t think leaving the controls and just lightspeeding blindly is a good idea) and they haven’t even decided where to go yet. And then they would leave lightspeed without being at the controls, is that even possible? Or does the ship leave lightspeed because of the gas leak?

This is the one scene where I’m fine with a lot of cuts, since the Rathtars are one of the weakest parts of the film IMO. After ‘Nowhere left to hide’, Rey could open the cages, then cut ‘and take the droid!’. Then keep the initial Rathtar attack, but cut Finn’s improbable capture and rescue. Maybe cut Han’s blasting the door open with the Bowcaster, since it doesn’t make any sense and it closes later in the scene.

I agree it needs some heavy cutting. I’ve already cut a lot after the initial attack in my version, and maybe the additional cuts you suggest could work after all. I’ll try it later.

It may be possible by using the end of the shot at the end of the film where the Falcon jumps out of the Resistance system, and then there are two possible shots of it falling out of lightspeed, both requiring the removal of a planet.

Okay, that should be possible. I don’t really see the need for the addition though. Would it really make sense to put the ship into lightspeed at that time? They just escaped, and Rey leaves the cockpit to meet up with Finn (I don’t think leaving the controls and just lightspeeding blindly is a good idea) and they haven’t even decided where to go yet. And then they would leave lightspeed without being at the controls, is that even possible? Or does the ship leave lightspeed because of the gas leak?

She does mention at the start of the repair scene that it’s the motivator, which I would assume is the hyperdrive motivator. She then says that if the ‘propulsion tank’ overflows it will flood them with gas. So the ship drops out of Hyperspace because of the sudden leak. Han also leaves the console while at lightspeed, so once you have a course and jump I expect there’s not much risk, at least with a good ship. It’s also established that Rey is no slouch when it comes to the hyperdrive of this particular ship.

It’s a bit of a stretch to think that they would jump without a clear destination, but it’s also a stretch to think that they celebrated before getting out of the system, and then just hung out near Jakku repairing the ship before being found by Han Solo, who was found by two gangs, and none of this appeared on the Finalizer’s radar.

I found a potential source for the Falcon going to lightspeed. Recall that I cut the Falcon’s jump with my Starkiller destruction re-foley, so I could merge that with the end of the escape from Jakku shot:http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/207415
It would require some blurring and engine glow to the first shot, but it might work.